Less than two minutes into the second period of Saturday's game against the Winnipeg Jets, the Toronto Maple Leafs' season took a turn for the worse.
Auston Matthews, who began the day leading the NHL with 10 goals, left because of a shoulder injury. On Monday the club announced Matthews will miss at least four weeks of action because of the injury.
Auston Matthews will not return to tonight's game due to a shoulder injury. #LeafsForever
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) October 28, 2018
Matthews skated slowly to the bench following a hit by Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba as the center drove to the net. He appeared to be favoring his left shoulder and in pain on the bench before heading to the locker room.
A closer look at the Jacob Trouba hit that sent Auston Matthews to the dressing room with what looked like a shoulder injury pic.twitter.com/MRRxV7Qn94
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) October 28, 2018
Of course, injuries are nothing new for the 2017 Calder Trophy winner. The 21-year-old suffered a shoulder injury prior to being selected first overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. After playing all 82 games and scoring 40 goals in his rookie campaign, he suffered three separate injuries and missed 20 games last season. The Maple Leafs went 11-7-2 in those games.
MORE: Maple Leafs chart their course for next month, playing without injured Auston Matthews
The last of the injuries was a Grade 2 shoulder separation after being hit by Adam Pelech and Cal Clutterbuck of the Islanders in February. That injury kept him out for a month and may have been a contributing factor to Matthews' listless performance in the Leafs' first-round playoff loss to the Boston Bruins.
Auston Matthews heads to the room after this double hit from Adam Pelech and Cal Clutterbuck. Suspicion is that it's a shoulder ailment. pic.twitter.com/VWtIlQUUhj
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) February 23, 2018
Toronto is one club that can potentially absorb the loss of its top center for a prolonged period. John Tavares and Nazem Kadri can step into top-two roles and natural center Par Lindholm could potentially shift from left wing to the middle on the third line.
The Leafs will still miss Matthews' production. He was leading the team with 16 points entering Saturday.
"[Matthews] is a big part of this team, everyone knows that," said Mitch Marner, who had two assists in the Leafs' come-from-behind victory. "He's a needed player on this team and hopefully we'll get him back soon."